Directory
Collaborators in this issue
Baja California Sur
Debra Valov
Nohel Martínez
Agustín Bravo Gaxiola
Baja California
César Angulo
California & Ontario
Talli Nauman
Texas
Fabián Carvallo Vargas
Sonora
Jorge Mercado
Denisse Sugey López Moroyoqui
Dulce García Casarrubias
Rafael Ceballos
Sinaloa & Nayarit
Máchangeles Carvajal
Editorial Board
Talli Nauman (San Ignacio, B.C.S.)
Debra Valov (Mulege, B.C.S.)
Griselda Franco Piedra (Guaymas, Son.)
Miguel Ángel Torres (Aguascalientes, Ags.)
Soyna Daniels (Hermosillo, Son.)
Consultants Vol. 3, No. 2
Ernesto Bolado, Dahl McLean,
Silvia Susana Sánchez
English Translations
Debra Valov
Jim Morgan
Pacifica
Anne Shapiro
Wendy Hill
Frank Gray
Ken Green
Acknowledgements
SuMar - Voces por la Naturaleza, A.C.; Fondo de Acción Solidaria, A.C.; Green Grants; LasEcomujeres.org; Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Sonora; Dennis Peterson
Design
Debra Valov; Mulegé, B.C.S.
Contact
meloncoyote@gmail.com
Meloncoyote is a product of Journalism to Raise Environmental Awareness (abbreviated PECE in Spanish), an independent communications project founded in 1994 with the support of the MacArthur Foundation. The viewpoints expressed are solely those of the authors.
This work may be reproduced in part or whole, with images and illustrations, as long as the publication source and authors are cited.
We have reached the end of the six-year presidential term in Mexico, and the end of the four-year presidential term in the United States, as well as the end of the Mayan calendar, and the beginning of the much-heralded Age of Aquarius. We find ourselves in an avalanche of significant changes.
A year ago, in late 2011, here at Melóncoyote, we observed that the world as we knew it would come to an end in 2012 due to international movements with the power to transform the current world order.
Now we welcome the year 2013 with the satisfaction of knowing that our team has been part of this change by informing our readers of opportunities to participate in the processes and decisions that affect our ecological and economic setting.
From their towers of government, powerful men have benefited from investments channeled to construction projects imposed against the will of the communities in the Gulf region. But in the end, these cement monuments built at the whim of this or that official, are not even operational. A case in point isthe
Acueducto Independencia in Sonora.
Meanwhile, we can boast of our participation in successful efforts favoring sustainable development, as illustrated in this, our eighth edition. Civil society has:
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We recommend:
Sempra gets right to build, operate Mexico pipeline
San Diego Business Journal
Sempra Mexico, a unit of San Diego based Sempra Energy, was awarded two contracts to build, own and operate 500 miles of natural gas pipeline in the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Mexico’s publicly-owned electric utility.
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stopped Spanish investment in the Cabo Cortés project, even when the Environmental and Natural Resources Secretariat initially approved this mega development, which would have damaged the region’s unique reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- defeated the company La Ribera Desarrollos, which was threatening to build 23,400 rooms and a golf course on the edge of the national park at the very same Cabo Pulmo reef.
- achieved a binational agreement to restore the waters of the Colorado River Delta for shrimp fisheries and for other species in the Upper Gulf of California.
- forced modification of, and stalled, the most ambitious project of this past presidential term, the Playa Espíritu Integrally Planned Center (formerly Costa Pacífico) located within the National Wetlands Reserve in Sinaloa and Nayarit, until investors and governments take into account the input of local communities.
- prevented the issuance of permits for the commercial farming of genetically modified organisms in Sonora and Sinaloa, as well as in the border state of Tamaulipas, after highlighting the negative impacts on the producers and soil fertility.
- blocked Deutsche Bank’s illegal proposal to build the supersized tourist development Entre Mares in the protected area of El Mogote, a project detrimental to mangroves and otherwildlife, as well as to the people of La Paz, Baja California Sur’s capital.
- overturned the plan to dredge and build the Marina Esperanto for 400 boats in La Paz, which threatened the habitat of whale sharks, dolphins, manta rays, and several species of shark, as well as the local tourist economy based on these species.
Along with the suspension of these harmful projects, we also saw the progress of environmentally friendly endeavors, some of which are showcased in this issue: reforestation by students in Ciudad Obregon; a bilingual guide for a nature hike in San Ignacio, BCS; and the start of binational collaboration to end improper recycling of U.S. batteries with its and the resulting lead contamination in Mexico.
While the number and magnitude of these achievements may be impressive, much more still must be done to protect the fragile deserts, coastlines, water, and health of the people of the region.
We hope to continue to expand our successes and to make our small contribution by focusing public attention on the options available in northwest Mexico and the U.S. Southwest that are based on the conservation of resources rather than on waste, squandering, and destruction.
Our project dates back to 1994, when “Journalism to Raise Environmental Awareness” (abbreviated PECE in Spanish) was formed. In 2004, PECE played a role in the founding of the national professional organization The Mexican Environmental Journalist’s Network. In 2005, when we started the first grassroots journalism project in the Gulf of California, our team chose the name Melóncoyote because it is a species emblematic of the region at the heart of our mission.
The Coyote Melon, known in Spanish as melón coyote or calabacilla (which includes the species Cucurbita palmata, C. cordata, C. digitata and C. foetidissima) is a wild perennial gourd that is resistant, versatile, beautiful, useful and native to the sandy soils that characterize the Gulf of California zone. The coyote melon is found in the region’s seven states: Baja California Sur, Baja California, California, Arizona, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Nayarit. A vine, Coyote Melon has an immense root that guarantees its survival against hard times while its long stems serve to anchor the soil in fragile areas.
The indigenous peoples of the area, bearers of the region’s traditional wisdom, describe the plant and how it is used. As medicine, it is bitter, but effective. As a musical instrument, it makes a beautiful rattle. Its seeds provide oil and a flour which contains a high level of protein. Its shell is ideal as a container for all matter of things. Because of all of these traits, and because it is an integral part of the food chain and one of the principal foods of the coyote, they named it “Coyote Melon”.
Our team of collaborators chose this name because it is a plant found throughout the region, and in doing so, we wanted to stress our intention to create a large-scale communications medium, capable of spreading (on a regional level) the news about efforts being made towards sustainability. With this symbolic name to represent our work, we are sending a clear message about our respect for the land and the sea, as well as for the ancestral cultures and customs of the region. We see the establishment of this medium for education and dissemination as something urgent, given the idiosyncrasies of the region. We have conceived this project as being an integral element of the environment, something positive like the Coyote Melon.
Faced with the challenges of growth in the region—a low population density, its recent political incorporation into the national government, a high degree of natural attraction and its proximity to the strong investment sector of the United States—we understand the implications of the pressures for development. Dealing with these challenges and pressures will require informed citizens who have the chance to participate in the decisions that affect their land, water, air, biodiversity and their future. We invite others to join with us, to participate in building this medium and to fight for a stable future for the region.
All work on behalf of Melóncoyote is voluntary.
